A&M Galveston facility aims to preserve alligators

GALVESTON — American alligators haven’t always had it easy.

The reptile species, one of the animal icons of the Southern United States, was once hunted to the point of endangerment because of demand for its skin.

The alligator was one of the first animals to be listed as an endangered species, a status it held until 1987, when conservation efforts led to it being declared fully recovered.

But now, the existential threat of climate change is raising new questions about the survivability of the species, and a Galveston laboratory is on the front lines of research to find answers.

Since 2016, Texas A&M University at Galveston’s Sea Life Facility has kept dozens of juvenile alligators as part of a research project aimed at helping preserve the species.

The alligators are part of an ongoing study to understand how the protected species copes with the higher-salinity environments expected because of sea-level rise.

“We need to understand how they adjust, if they can adjust to life in saline water,” said Lene Petersen, a comparative physiologist and assistant professor at the university.

“Because over time, we predict that alligator habitats, especially closer to the coast, will be exposed to severe and more frequent saline environments.”

The brackish swamps and marshes where alligators live are some of the most sensitive ecosystems in the world.

As sea levels rise, the balance of marsh ecosystems are expected to change with ocean water flooding farther inland, making marshland saltier, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

More frequent hurricanes, another side effect of climate change, also are expected to push more salt water into alligator habitats.

Knowing how well alligators can survive in saltier environments could help preserve the species in the future.

Alligators, which can be found in the United States from North Carolina to Texas, are the apex predators in their ecosystems. They help keep prey species in control.

The animals also are considered natural engineers, Petersen said. The paths they cut, the holes they dig and the nests they build help other plant and animals species move, find shelter and grow in wetlands, Petersen said.

Without the alligators, the system could be disrupted.

But despite their importance to the ecosystem, very little research exists into how the animals survive in higher salinity water. Research that does exists appears to show it isn’t good for the alligators.

Petersen’s work is attempting to fill that gap.

Petersen and her team observe how alligator tissues and hormone levels respond to being kept in higher-salinity water.

Results of the research are passed on to conservationists to help direct wildlife management efforts.

Researchers and students at Texas A&M University help care for about 40 juvenile alligators at a time. The alligators are sent to Galveston from the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Cameron Parish, La.

In Galveston, the juvenile alligators live a life of relative peace and quiet. They’re fed a diet of special pellets three times a week and mostly are left to lounge in tubs under the warm glow of UV lamps.

Because they’re juveniles, the alligators are less aggressive and bites are few and far between, said Katie St. Clair, the manager of the sea life facility.

Other tenants at the facility include phytoplankton, sharks and sea slugs.

As they grow, some of the Aggie alligators will be returned to the preserve in Louisiana; others will be sent to research facilities across the United States, St. Clair said.